Back at Home and Back to the Airport

I have been back home for a little more than week and at this point I pretty much have my back on the ground. Well right now, I am on the ground in St. Louis for the Women’s Game vs. Mexico this weekend. It seems like my travels are continuing but having a 90-minute flight to St. Louis is much easier than any of my travels in China.

I arrived in time for the Friday morning practice at the Edward Jones Dome. The girls seemed relaxed and happy to be back together. Upon returning from China, the girls headed back home to take some time off and relax and recover from the intensity of the games and the difficulty of the travel.

For me it is a great feeling to be back on the field and shooting seeing the team working out and visiting with some of them at the hotel.

After a late lunch with Gayle from Fair Game Magazine and getting checked into the hotel. I headed out with Lori Chalupny, Lindsay Tarpley, Nicole Barnhart and Natasha Kai. Actually, I was following them in my car, as Barb, Lori’s mom was driving. This trip did not quite have the urgency of following the bus in Shanghai, it was never the less an adventure.

As you would expect, since Lori is from St. Louis, she wanted to show off a few things to her friends. First stop was the new condo she would be moving into, which unfortunately was closed. Then on to her sister Casey’s soccer practice.

Arriving early, we got to one of the highlights of the day – Lori’s dog Echo. A black Lab mix that is about a year and a half old.


There were some introductions, a pep talk about soccer and well, you have heard of playing one on one, and four on four, well they decided to play 13 on 4! Lori, Lindsay, Barney and Tasha against the rest. Actually it was a pretty close game.

We ended the day with a group photo and some questions and finally another car chase back downtown.


The game is tonight with about 10,000 expected to be there. Indeed the games are the best part of my job!

Ending on a High Note

The 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup Soccer Tournament is now in the record books and although it did not have the ending that I had hope for, it was a great run. Tonight’s final double-header was a sell-out. All of the players in the final four teams deserved a sell out and both games were great! Well played and fun to watch. This was what the final games of a World Cup should be.

Ally Wagner, seeing her first game time, started in the mid-field and had a great game.


Abby scored twice giving her 6 goals for the tournament, second only to Marta with 7 goals and earning her the Silver Shoe Award.


The 2007 US Women’s National Team, with a 4-1 victory over Norway earned third place in the tournament.


The German Women, with their amazing defense are again the World Champions!!


My final World Cup activity for 2007 was at the Westin Hotel where I was invited to the final and family dinner. It was a great ending, with great friends and was all of us needed for our good byes.


There are many more stories from this month than I have written, there are stories from the games and from the off field adventures. In the coming days I will include a few more in my blog as I edit photos and try to decompress.

The important stories are the girls’ stories, which will be shared with you in our upcoming book Portrait of Passion, scheduled for release on November 23, 2007. Check out www.portraitofpassion.com .

It’s time to leave China; head back to Minneapolis and get to work!

Point of View

On my last full day in Shanghai, at the insistence of my friend Adam I went to see a tailor for a new sport coat. He was fast and efficient, to the point of walking me to the ATM so I wouldn’t get lost and not return. Under $300, I thought the price was good, but not fabulous. Oh wait, that was for three cashmere jackets! I will be stylin’ when I get home.

Outside of the garment building the economic contrast of Shanghai was clear looking from both sides of the same street. The following images were shot from exactly the same spot.



Looking north, you can see both the local street vendors as well as the construction of one of the world’s tallest buildings.


At the SMC, our workday begins at 1:30, getting set up and standing in line for our positions on the sidelines. Since today is a double-header, the number of journalists have increased, but is the still vibrant atmosphere tempered by almost a month of travel and an eagerness to get back home.

The Great Aunts

Over the years, I have come to know many kinds of families. Some single parents, some with two moms and some with two dads.

Today at Rylie Rampone’s 2nd Birthday Party, there was Mom – Christie, Dad – Chris, and 20 Great Aunts. Perhaps I should say 20 Greatest Aunts. It was a celebration worthy of any World Cup!


Substantially all of the team were there, as were most of the family members and Rylie who was a bit weary at the beginning was a fabulous host!



For most, the thought of a tired two year old in room filled with adults can be scary, but they don’t know Rylie. Nor do they know her aunts! Aunt Abby and Aunt Tasha are among the greatest, but certainly all are family!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLIE!

Controversy

At any major event, with any major team, there is controversy. Certainly the 2007 World Cup is no exception. Both Coach Ryan’s decision to start Brianna Scurry in goal, as well as Hope Solo’s post game comments, were at the top of the list for today’s press briefing.

I expect the journalists here to be embroiled in every detail, but Sal Ruibal from USA said that since the Brazil game, the web activity around this issue had out passed both the NFL and MLB. At least women’s soccer is attracting attention.

While Greg Ryan answered all of the questions exactly as you would have anticipated by any high-level coach; Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach were the class act.


Hope will not be playing in the last game against Norway, nor will she be on the bench with the team. For Greg Ryan it was a coaching issue, for Kristine and Abby it was a personal issue and for all it was a significant distraction from the task at hand.


I have no doubt there will be growth as a result of the Brazil game, growth in the individual play, growth in the coaching, and growth in the individual players as well . Unfortunately as with the rest of us, it is these difficult times that define and shape us as person. It is not just the event, but we each respond to the adversity and move forward, no matter which side of the issue we are on.

The Day After the Night Before

Sometimes it seems like a traveling circus. As the photographers and journals gathered in the lobby of the Hangzhou Sunny Hotel to check out this morning, there was no question that we all needed more sleep, but would have settled for more coffee. The magnitude of equipment and luggage for a relatively limited number of people was truly amazing. The shooters from AP had called a van. Colleen Ross of the CBC Radio and Jim Stevenson of Voice of America and I decided to share a cab. It was a good thing that the train was only a mile from the hotel, given that all three of us were in the back seat and luggage was everywhere else. In spite of sounding like a Super 8, the Sunny Hotel was really great four-star hotel.

Unlike the Shanghai South Station that resembles any modern airport, the Hangzhou station was more like a study in the Zen of fluid dynamics. You become one with the crowd and then try to break free at the area for your train.


Once again the train left right on time. I found out that I was in a first class car. I am not sure what that got me, but the additional cost was only $1.33. At 180 km/hour I could still take in the rural landscape, but even with the distance from either city there was smog along the entire route.

We all parted company at the Shanghai station and I set off on another adventure in taxi riding. After about 20 minutes, my driver stopped at a high-rise building, which was still under construction, turned to me and smiled. With some creative translation and showing my FIFA credentials, I was able to convey that I was near Hong Kou Stadium. Getting from the station to my hotel, not only took longer, it was also more expensive than the train.

Immediately upon returning to my hotel, I headed to Starbucks whose proximity defines the primary benefit of where I am staying.

Mid-afternoon, there was another taxi adventure. I can finally articulate how closely the drivers get to each other; when the side mirrors touch, it’s close enough. Consistent with the day, my driver bumped a woman on a bicycle. This was not a surprise to me, nor do I think it was to her; it has to happen all the time. I am just amazed there isn’t more blood on the street.

Arriving at the Team hotel, I first saw Brianna Scurry. While she was doing ok, her emotions were pretty close to the surface, we talked for a few minutes hugged and parted.

In the lobby others were gathered to meet family members. Cat Whitehill (Reddick) and her sister and parents. Ally Wagner, her mother and finally I got to get a photo with Ally and her husband Adam Eyre who I knew from his days of playing for the Minnesota Thunder.




Julie Foudy stopped by after the Press Conference with Greg Ryan.
With nothing else on tap, I walked over to the Yu Gardens to get some more scenic shots and do a bit of shopping. The first store I went in, I saw Nicole Barnhart and Marci Jobson. Then back on the street, I met Marian Dalmy and her father Adam, who were in search of a Starbucks. Needless to say, I joined them.


Marian had her first game time last night and had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the ball.

A Long Night in Hangzhou

Breakfast in Shanghai, bullet train to Hangzhou, hot, humid, nice hotel. Indeed it’s much easier to write about the niceties of international travel when your team has won. But tonight was just a long night in Hangzhou.

The US who had been accused of starting slow, had their first shot off within 19 seconds. The first 15 minutes of the game were the best soccer that I have seen in the tournament. Strong, aggressive and balanced, it was great! But, the team seemed to lack that click they had during the England game. The unspoken knowledge of where the other players were. Having an own goal was hard, but that wasn’t it. There was just something missing that would have made them perform as cohesive unit.




The game had some truly amazing play. Jaime Motta from ESPN just stopped by my work area and commented that at times he thought he was watching the men. There was a play that led to the final goal in the 79th minute that was set up right in front of me. I was near the top of the box, shooting with my long lens. While I would normally grab my other camera, I couldn’t take my eyes of the play.

Tina Ellertson was on Marta, Marta was facing me, she gave the ball a little tap in the air, a second tap in the air, flicked the ball behind her, turned around Tina and shot! My mouth was open, most amazing ball handling I have ever seen and literally within reach. It reminded me of the ease that Tiger Woods bounces a ball on the face of an iron. It was like watching inner-city basketball, skills that have been honed on the street and in the dirt, not in a youth soccer league. Playing soccer not because it was a sport or recreation, but because it was a way to change your life. Indeed, just like watching the men.


I am sure there will be controversy over the Coach’s decision to start Brianna Scurry in goal, but that cannot take away from the skills of the Brazilian players. Just great ball handling. I am sure there will be controversy over the officiating, lots of yellow cards flashed in a game that was nearly as brutal as North Korea or Nigeria. However, there will not be any controversy over the intensity of any of the players, nor the passion with which they play.

Tonight, my thoughts are with the team, many of whom I have gotten to know over the last three weeks.